Systems and methods for interactive electronic games having scripted components

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing an interactive gaming experience. The system is configured to generate a virtual game space accessible by at least two player devices, provide access of the virtual game space to the at least two player devices, receive one or more commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices, aggregate actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more commands, determine that the aggregate of the actions corresponds to a trigger event, identify that the trigger event corresponds to progression to a next phase of the multiplayer game, update the virtual game space to include one or more sets of game attributes corresponding to the next phase, generate an updated game display, and transmit the updated game display to the at least two player devices.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A system comprising:
 at least two player devices; and 
 an interactive gaming platform comprising a processor and a memory, the interactive gaming platform communicatively coupled to the at least two player devices via at least one network, the interactive gaming platform configured to generate a virtual game space accessible by the at least two player devices, the virtual game space representing a multiplayer game comprising one or more phases, wherein each phase comprises one or more trigger events, the interactive gaming platform configured to:
 provide access of the virtual game space to the at least two player devices; 
 receive one or more commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregate actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more commands; 
 determine that the aggregate of the actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space corresponds to a trigger event; 
 identify that the trigger event corresponds to progression to a next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 update the virtual game space to include one or more sets of game attributes corresponding to the next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 generating an updated game display depicting the next phase of the multiplayer game; and 
 transmit the updated game display to the at least two player devices. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a video server, the multiplayer server being configured to:
 identify one or more videos corresponding to a next phase of the multiplayer game when the aggregate of the actions corresponds to the trigger event; and 
 instruct each of the at least two player devices to request the one or more videos from the video server. 
 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive gaming platform is further configured to:
 register the at least two player devices prior to providing access to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive gaming platform is further configured to:
 receive, from a first player device of the at least two player devices, a video recorded by the first player device for transmittal to a second player device of the at least two player device; and 
 transmit the video to the second player device during gameplay. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a video server, the interactive gaming platform is further configured to:
 receive a recorded video comprising one or more parameters defining a triggering condition associated with the video; 
 receive one or more further commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregate further actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more further commands; 
 identify that the further actions satisfy the triggering condition associated with the video; and 
 instruct at least one or more of a second player device and a first player device among the at least the two player devices to request the video from the video server. 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the multiplayer game comprises a node-based story map that represents the one or more phases of the multiplayer game. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two player devices comprise an initiating player device and one or more non-initiating player devices. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two player devices are not co-located. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive gaming platform comprises an advertisement server, the interactive gaming platform configured to:
 instruct the advertisement server associated with the interactive gaming platform to provide an advertisement to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive gaming platform is further configured to:
 assign a role in the multiplayer game to each of the at least two player devices. 
 
     
     
       11. A method of managing a virtual game space, comprising:
 providing, by an interactive game platform, access to a virtual game space to at least two player devices, the virtual game space represents a multiplayer game comprising one or more phases, wherein each phase comprises one or more trigger events; 
 receiving, by the interactive gaming platform, one or more commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregating, by the interactive gaming platform, actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more commands; 
 determining, by the interactive gaming platform, that the aggregate of the actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space corresponds to a trigger event; 
 identifying, by the interactive gaming platform, that the trigger event corresponds to progression to a next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 updating, by the interactive gaming platform, the virtual game space to include one or more sets of game attributes corresponding to the next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 generating an updated game display depicting the next phase of the multiplayer game; and 
 transmitting, by the interactive gaming platform, the updated game display to the at least one player device. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying, by the interactive gaming platform, one or more videos corresponding to a next phase of the multiplayer game when the aggregate of the actions corresponds to the trigger event; and 
 instructing, by the interactive gaming platform, each of the at least two player devices to request the one or more videos from the video server. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 registering, by the interactive gaming platform, the at least two player devices prior to providing access to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the interactive gaming platform from a first player device of the at least two player devices, a video recorded by the first player device for transmittal to a second player device of the at least two player device; and 
 transmitting, by the interactive gaming platform, the video to the second player device during gameplay. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving a recorded video comprising one or more parameters defining a triggering condition associated with the video; 
 receiving, by the interactive gaming platform, one or more further commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregating, by the interactive gaming platform, further actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more further commands; 
 identifying, by the interactive gaming platform, that the further actions satisfy the triggering condition associated with the video; and 
 instructing, by the interactive gaming platform, at least one or more of a second player device and a first player device of the two or more player devices to request the video from the video server. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the multiplayer game comprises a node-based story map that represents the one or more phases of the multiplayer game. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least two player devices comprise an initiating player device and one or more non-initiating player devices. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least two player devices are not co-located. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 instructing, by the interactive gaming platform, an advertisement server associated with the interactive gaming platform to provide an advertisement to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 assigning, by the interactive gaming platform, a role in the multiplayer game to each of the at least two player devices. 
 
     
     
       21. A non-transitory computer readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
 providing access to a virtual game space to at least two player devices, the virtual game space represents a multiplayer game comprising one or more phases, wherein each phase comprises one or more trigger events; 
 receiving one or more commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregating actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more commands; 
 determining that the aggregate of the actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space corresponds to a trigger event; 
 identifying that the trigger event corresponds to progression to a next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 updating the virtual game space to include one or more sets of game attributes corresponding to the next phase of the multiplayer game; 
 generating an updated game display depicting the next phase of the multiplayer game; and 
 transmitting the updated game display to the at least two player devices. 
 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying one or more videos corresponding to a next phase of the multiplayer game when the aggregate of the actions corresponds to the trigger event; and 
 instructing each of the at least two player devices to request the one or more videos from the video server. 
 
     
     
       23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 registering the at least two player devices prior to providing access to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving, from a first player device of the at least two player devices, a video recorded by the first player device for transmittal to a second player device of the at least two player device; and 
 transmitting the video to the second player device during gameplay. 
 
     
     
       25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a recorded video comprising one or more parameters defining a triggering condition associated with the recorded video; 
 receiving one or more further commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices; 
 aggregating further actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more further commands; 
 identifying that the further actions satisfy the triggering condition associated with the recorded video; and 
 instructing at least one or more of a second player device and the first player device of the two or more player devices to request the recorded video from the video server. 
 
     
     
       26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the multiplayer game comprises a node-based story map that represents the one or more phases of the multiplayer game. 
     
     
       27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the at least two player devices comprise an initiating player device and one or more non-initiating player devices. 
     
     
       28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the at least two player devices are not co-located. 
     
     
       29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 instructing an advertisement server associated with the interactive gaming platform to provide an advertisement to the virtual game space. 
 
     
     
       30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 assigning a role in the multiplayer game to each of the at least two player devices.